8/25/13- From Pygmy to Giant

We woke up a little frustrated with toddler Darren and his family who lacked inside voices, but he did have us up early and on the road quickly. The jetboil was exhausted, but we had plans to hike. We couldn't find the visitor center, so instead chose the scenic "No Parking Anytime" trail to the sea. It actually worked out quite well. We stumbled on "Smooth Rock Beach" and delighted in discoveing starfish, sea anemones and the tubular seaweed. I slipped on a smooth rock, we made a few Planet of the Apes references and carried on unharmed and mildly amused.

We twisted and turned along the coast via iconic highway one, seat dancing and grinding to the sounds of early Britney Spears. Our first stop was Elk where the guide book had promised a "characterful" service station. The building didn't look 112 years old and the characters hadn't shown this Sunday morning. We continued on to the Pygmy Forest where we were enchanted disappointed again. It was intellectually interesting knowing that the 5-foot trees that looked like saplings were 80 to 100 years old, but it was not very visually interesting. It looked like most any shrubbery might. We couldn't even figure out how to take an interesting picture. Clare surmised that the Pygmy Forest might be more interesting on the drive north to south after travelers had already seen the enormous redwoods on the Avenue of the Giants. (It sounded good, but I doubt it.)

We ate lunch on a beach, slightly less post-apocalyptic than the famous NZ beach. The birds weren't quite as predatory either, but they circled our picnic eagerly. The picnic was a success in that we were temporarily sated, but otherwise lacked much charm. We wound along the Pacific Coast and stopped in the small town of Mendocino (nicknamed "Spendocino" according to the guidebook) where we found all the cell service we'd been missing. Everyone placed calls to parents, even me. We stocked up on s'mores supplies, looked at a few shops and pointed the Soul north to Ft. Bragg.

At Ft. Bragg our stop of choice was the Cow Lick. It was another delicious stop. I'd put my black forest ice cream above Smitten. We were also able to obtain more jetboil fuel before our entrance into the Avenue of the Giants. Our first encounter with the giant redwoods was the Drive-Thru tree. Established in 1922, the roadside attraction was well worth the stop. I'm not sure why, but it was thrilling to fold down our mirrors and drive through a tree. It was fun to watch others drive through too.

We cruised on the avenue checking out giants until we arrived at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. We drove over to a grove and tried in the Eel river. Clare and Bri were successful, but between my silly broken sesamoid and the algae, I was more comfortable throwing rocks from the bank.

Back at camp, we successfully started a fire and cooked bratwurst over the flame. Magnifique!  Bri was awarded a found junior ranger button for her efforts. The s'mores were a fine finish and we enjoyed the fire well into the night.